Spleen

The spleen, like the pancreas, belongs to the earth element, one of the five Eastern elements. The etymological root of spleen indicates it means dark, of a brownish colour. And the name spleen comes from its dark, brownish side.

Like the pancreas, the spleen is a busy, hard working organ. It regulates the blood and it teams up with the pancreas. It is a lymphatic organ which filters the blood, collaborates with the liver in the production of bile and produces white cells (it has an immunological role). The pancreas, its cousin, is a much more yang type of organ, much more masculine, more intense than the spleen, which is more yin, more feminine. The spleen regulates women’s menstrual cycles and contributes towards the good functioning of the female genital organs. Spleen cancer occurs more often in women than in men, although men also suffer from it. Spleen cancer is more feminine, whereas pancreas cancer is more a male thing. (See Pancreas).

Spleen problems indicate that the sufferer allows little time for fun and pleasure. Duty and the profession (even if that profession is being a housewife) represent what is really important. Life lacks joy. The person annuls himself; his attitude is too feminine, too passive. That person will go to lengths to hang on to the past, he excessively cultivates the past, just for fear of not being able to deal with the present. That person will be too regulated, normative, rigid, radical, obsessed about duty, just because of fear of annulling himself. He will not pay attention to himself or to his self-esteem. Women who experience difficulty in taking part in the celebration of life are more prone to having spleen cancer.

Women who suffer from spleen cancer find it more difficult to live out their femininity and to celebrate life because they focus, just like a man would do, on the daily rules that present themselves to them. Moreover, when these women are married, they often attract husbands who enjoy celebrations and parties and will participate in them, whether the wife is present or not. And they will do it in several ways, even in sexual terms. And these women just observe, passively, and focus on the only purpose of their lives, the rules, the home, domestic work, and, paradoxically, they do it very much in a yang and controlled way.